Regular saver standing order rejected

satsumace

I opened a Bradford and Bingley (Abbey) regular saver account a couple of months ago which seemed to be set up fine, and the first standing order payment went through ok in March

For the second in April, however, the standing order payment was returned as rejected. My bank (First Direct) have told me that Abbey rejected it as an "invalid account", while Abbey have told me that the payment went through and then was "claimed back" by First Direct, so the blame is being passed between the two banks. The standing order has definitely been set up correctly as the first payment went through completely fine and was correctly updated in my Abbey passbook.

From my prior experience of both banks I'm more tempted to believe it's Abbey that's screwed up, but I was wondering if this kind of thing has happened to anyone else. Is it even possible for a bank to "claim back" a standing order after it has gone through?

oxenryd

satsumace wrote: »

I opened a Bradford and Bingley (Abbey) regular saver account a couple of months ago which seemed to be set up fine, and the first standing order payment went through ok in March

For the second in April, however, the standing order payment was returned as rejected. My bank (First Direct) have told me that Abbey rejected it as an "invalid account", while Abbey have told me that the payment went through and then was "claimed back" by First Direct, so the blame is being passed between the two banks. The standing order has definitely been set up correctly as the first payment went through completely fine and was correctly updated in my Abbey passbook.

From my prior experience of both banks I'm more tempted to believe it's Abbey that's screwed up, but I was wondering if this kind of thing has happened to anyone else. Is it even possible for a bank to "claim back" a standing order after it has gone through?

Yeah they can claim it back, I ve had it before.

If the payment went through fine for March, then I'd be inclined to believe Abbey. Why would they reject it after it being fine in March.

satsumace

oxenryd wrote: »

Yeah they can claim it back, I ve had it before.

If the payment went through fine for March, then I'd be inclined to believe Abbey. Why would they reject it after it being fine in March.

Thanks. By the same token I guess I just don't understand why First Direct would claim it back without reason though, so I don't know who to believe...

apt

Whoever's to blame make sure you do make a payment in April to avoid an interest rate penalty.

alanq

Many years ago I set up a standing order to a National Savings Yearly Plan which was so called because it involved making payments each month for a year. Despite the clear instructions given, the bank staff entered the instructions on to their computer as if a Yearly Plan payment should be made annually. So after I had checked that the first payment had been made successfully I missed 5 months' payments.

On another occasion the (different) bank managed to add an extra zero to the amount of subsequent monthly payments despite getting the initial (what should have been equal) payment amount correct.

In satsumace's case both banks have said that the second payment was sent and then returned for whatever reason.

The three different events show that it is important to check (at least) that the first two payments have been correctly made.

Reaper

I've always found First Direct excellent at sorting out problems even when it's not their fault. I suggest you ask FD to talk to Abbey and discover which side the problem is on.

I wouldn't try it the other way round. Abbey's customer services lack the same reputation to say the least.

simon_templar_2

Abbey savers have generic sort code 090000 and account number 00050005 then you need the account number eg X12345678SUR.

satsumace

simon_templar wrote: »

Abbey savers have generic sort code 090000 and account number 00050005 then you need the account number eg X12345678SUR.

Yes, the sort code and account numbers were the generic ones and the standing order payment reference was the account number (which was definitely set correctly, and checked by the Abbey branch as I took a printout of the standing order mandate to show them). I've left it with Abbey for the moment as they've said they'll check again with their head office to see if they can get more information. If I don't have any luck with them I'll take Reaper's advice and try to get First Direct to sort it out.